Think Yourself Young

Ever the humorist, Lea Hope Becker pokes fun (and her pen) at the oddities of human behavior. Her poems flow from a woman's perspective, usually in her disciplined rhyming style, layering humor on the contrasting ways men and women relate and deal with adversity. Take "Computer Dating," a story-poem about how anxious hopeful romantics often failed to connect back in the early stages of online matchups. Or step inside "The Doctors' Waiting Room," where Becker explores what she imagines is the concern of most patients: "How soon will I be soothed and comforted by my health practitioner?"

Becker's poems do not protest human nature, but rather reveal clear pathways to resolving modern conundrums. For this, try on any of her "attitude poems" for size. In "When You Turn Away From Trouble," you may discover a solution to the stress of dealing with pandemic confinement-proving the power of poetry to spark more than a conversation . . . perhaps the fountain of youth and a whole new world.